


Growing Up (Asgard Style)

by ingie



Series: Asgard and Midgard enjoy diplomatic relations. Somehow. [2]
Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-01
Updated: 2013-10-23
Packaged: 2017-11-17 13:36:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/552127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ingie/pseuds/ingie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snippets of Thor and Loki's childhood and youth.  Some of this will be background in the longer post-Avengers story I'm planning to write.</p>
<p>1: Bedtime Stories (or: the Beginning of Everything)<br/>2: Winter<br/>3: The One-handed Warrior<br/>4: Jealousy<br/>5: Hammer-time<br/>6: Independence<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bedtime Stories (or: the Beginning of Everything)

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of my wider ficverse in the sense that it's background for it, but didn't really fit into the longer story I swear I'm going to write soon. Can be read independently.

The winter storms have finally come to Asgard, with their biting wind and heavy snowfalls. But here, inside the sitting room connected to the library at Fensal, with its fireplace built around a carefully and magically maintained lava pit, it is warm and cozy. Shadows are dancing on the tapestried walls, but the two boys sitting between their parents are not looking at them, but rather at the illusions spun by their father as he tells a tale as only the Allfather can.

“In the beginning there was nothing. No life, no realms, no Yggdrasil. Only the vast, empty expanses of Ginnugagap were there, until a great heat and a great cold met…”The illusion of darkness pulls together and then expands suddenly.

“And exploded!” Thor says excitedly, and Odin chuckles indulgently. 

“Indeed it did. But from that meeting, that explosion, grew Yggdrasil, and nestled amongst its branches, the nine realms. So you see, great good can come from great differences.”

“After they explode,” Thor says decisively, but Loki is frowning. 

“How know you that it was good?” he asks.

Frigga is the one to answer. “It was life,” she says. “’Tis true that life can hold cruelty, but it also holds kindness. Neither would exist without life to experience it.” She throws a worried glance at Odin over the heads of the two boys. Loki’s questions are of some concern. 

Thor is frowning. “Father? If the Ginnugagap is nothing, where did the great heat and the great cold come from?”

Odin shakes his head. “That is a good question, and one I know not the answer to.”

That captures Loki’s attention as well. Both boys look at their father with incredulous eyes. “You know not?” Loki asks. “But you hung from the Yggdrasil for three days to gain knowledge of the cosmos!”

Odin nods. “For three days, yes. And then I cut myself down and returned because some things are impossible to look at without losing one’s mind. I saw much, but not what was before the beginning of the cosmos. If you can find someone to answer that question, Thor, you will have found a wise person indeed.”

The boys look at one another, and then turn as one to Frigga. “Mother?” they chorus.

Frigga laughs, and Odin huffs in mock offense. “I know not either, my darlings. But is this not better? Were all the mysteries of all the realms already answered, there would be no need for us to seek further knowledge.” She pets Loki’s hair, and he grins up at her.

“Father, you forgot to dismiss the illusion,” Thor points out, and indeed, the illusionary Yggdrasil is still turning and changing.

Odin shakes his head. “It was on purpose. You see, how it still changes? The realms are safe within the branches, but new sprigs grow, much like real trees. Once, I knew which paths to take to walk the branches, but those old paths have grown over, now.”

“Is that why you and my namesake built the Bifrost?” Loki asks. At Odin’s confirming nod, he pauses in thought for a moment, before asking “has anyone ever tried to walk on the outside of the branches, rather than inside where the paths change?”

“Some have tried,” Odin replies heavily. “I know of none who have returned. Cast such thoughts from your mind, my son. I much prefer you to live.”

The silence after that drags for a while, until Loki says, “I shall have to find the paths inside the branches, then.”

“You must wait until you no longer flinch at lightning, first,” Thor says in his big-brothers-are-not-always-nice voice, and Loki turns to protest that he is _not_ afraid of lightning when the sky outside the window lights up as the storm breaks loose for real. Loki whimpers and hides his face against Frigga, who strokes his hair soothingly. 

“Hush, my sweetheart,” she says fondly. “Fensal is well protected against such storms.”

Odin murmurs agreement and rests a hand on Loki’s shoulder, but his eye is on Thor. 

Odin has travelled all over the realms, at least the ones he could physically set foot on, and he has experienced storms several places. One thing that, strangely, is the same all over is that people, when seeing lightning, start counting until they hear the thunder in order to tell how far away the lightning was. This has always struck Odin as strange, since they all insist that each number is a measure of their own units of measurement, which often vary. But people count, even here on Asgard, and so it should not surprise him that Thor’s counting quietly – except Thor is counting backwards.

“Three-two-one,” Thor mutters, and then grins as thunder roars immediately afterwards.

Loki whimpers. “Stop it!” 

“I am not doing it,” Thor replies, and then adds, “yet”.

“You expect to control the thunder and lightning?” Odin asks, giving his elder son a considering look. He had wondered if Thor had somehow not inherited the power of either parent, but it would appear it has simply taken another form.

“I can feel it singing in my blood,” Thor replies. “One day, I shall bend both to my will. And rain, too,” he adds, with the blitheness of a child who has never experienced either flood or drought. Odin, older and more experienced, shudders inwardly at the thought of the damage Thor could end up doing.

“That’s not fair,” Loki protests, fear forgotten. “He gets instinctual control over storms, and I must study for some silly illusions?”

“Like the ones I use?” Odin asks dryly. “The talent itself is unimportant, my sons. What matters is how you use it.”

“Besides,” Frigga puts in, “what you have to work for is often more worthwhile than that which comes easily to you. And now, you two, it is time for bed.”

Both of them begin to protest, but Odin cuts them off. “No, she is right. We have to speak to some artificers. Unless you have some great wish to listen to us discuss irrigation…?”

Loki grimaces, but looks like he would rather not be alone in his room while there’s a lightning storm outside. Thor looks like he’s almost interested – in irrigation, of all things, why can he not show that amount of interest in history – but also like he’s sleepy. He throws an arm around Loki’s shoulders.

“Come, little brother. Mother said that Fensal is protected, and even were it not, I shall make certain that nothing touches you.”

“You said you could not control it yet,” Loki points out.

Thor gives him an affronted glance. “What, I should let myself be stopped by what is currently possible?”

Two hours later, when Frigga goes to check up on them, they are both fast asleep in Loki’s bed, fingers tangled in one another’s nightshirts.


	2. Winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Walking through a snowstorm is bad enough, even if you haven't lost your boot. 
> 
> Thor and Loki are slightly older than in the last ficlet, but not by much.

“You are a thrice-damned fool,” Loki said.

“Yes, yes,” Thor muttered. The words should have been lost in the wind, but while Thor couldn’t quite shape the winds yet, they had stopped robbing him of speech months ago.

“I mean it. A misbegotten, utter fool.”

“I’ve taken your meaning. You need not repeat it.”

“For what reason did you go into that bog anyway? And now we are lost out here, in a blizzard, far from home, slowly freezing...”

“Well, why can you not go on ahead, then?” Thor snapped. “Leave me and my leaden feet, and get yourself home. I shan’t insist on burdening you.”

Loki stopped his angry complaining and looked at his brother. Thor was shivering, his head bare because he’d had to give up his hat to put on the now bootless foot. Said foot probably did feel leaden, being wet and frozen from the snow.

Then Loki looked at the snow swirling around them, at how all known landmarks were obscured and their tracks filled in. “Your sense of direction is better,” he muttered. 

Thor’s mouth twitched, like he would have grinned if his face was not too cold. “A compelling reason, I must admit. Home is still straight ahead.”

Loki lifted his brother’s arm up, draped it around his shoulders, and began walking again, half supporting Thor on the way. He knew, and Thor probably knew as well, that at this rate their strength would run out long before the road did, and with these winds and the birds-eye view obscured by the snow, there was little chance of the ravens finding them.

A wolf’s howl pierced the air, and for a moment Loki felt stiff with fear, before Thor laughed – laughter weak with exhaustion and trembling as much as he did from the cold – and Loki recognised the timbre of the wolf’s voice. His knees suddenly felt weak with relief.

Moments later Freki bounded up to them and pushed his way between them, taking Thor’s weight off Loki. Thor sagged against him in relief, and Loki buried his stiff face against the animal’s ruff. Freki howled again, the sound caught up by the wind, and moments later an answering howl could be heard in the distance. 

After some time that probably felt longer than it actually was, Geri appeared through the swirling snow, with a large shape behind him – one of the Einherjar. 

“You two, have you any notion of how worried you’ve made us?” the warrior demanded. “Half the squad is out looking for you – which reminds me...” He raised his hunting horn to his lips and blew, three short bursts, the signal for “hunt over”, before turning to glare at them again.

“Sorry, Sigurd,” Thor murmured.

Sigurd frowned at him – or rather, at his foot, covered in Thor’s hat and bound with Loki’s scarf. “What happened to your boot?”

Loki exploded. “He lost it! In a bog! Which he went into to pull loose a stuck fawn! Why do that anyway? If this were a hunt, you would have tried to shoot that fawn!” The last was directed at Thor, who annoyingly didn’t at all wilt under Loki’s glare.

“But we were not hunting,” he replied, like that made sense. Loki threw his hands up and turned to Sigurd for support – support which was not forthcoming. Even through the heavy winter clothing it was apparent that Sigurd was trying very hard not to laugh.

“Come, now,” he said, bending to pick Thor up. It was a measure of how tired and cold Thor was that he didn’t complain. “Let us home. Loki-prince, are you able to walk on your own?”

Loki nodded. “Yes. I was not fool enough to lose my boot.”

Sigurd nodded and signalled for him to begin walking. The wolves, large enough that Loki had to stretch a little to get one arm over the neck of each, walked beside the younger Odinsson, making certain he kept pace.

“Stay with me,” Sigurd said sharply when Loki began to drift off. 

“Will you tell us of the dragon when we get back if we do?” Loki asked.

“Aye,” Sigurd promised, and both young princes clung stubbornly to consciousness in anticipation of a tale that was rarely told these days, as its teller had grown tired of it, but which held everything a young child could want.

Frozen and exhausted they arrived at the hall, where Thor was whisked off to Eir’s healing chambers, Frigga following. Sigurd was dragged off for a hot meal after Odin had gripped both his forearms in gratitude, and the wolves were given large bowls of raw meat. Odin scratched their ears a little before sinking to his knees before Loki and pulling him in for an embrace. Loki clung to his father, every bit of energy suddenly gone. 

After a long moment Odin pulled away. “Need you a healer as well?” he asked, looking Loki over from head to toe.

Loki shook his head. “I handle cold better than Thor,” he said, a little proudly, and if Odin’s face grew stiff for a second, the expression was soon gone.

“A hot bath, then, and a hot meal and then bed, I think,” he said, and Loki found himself nearly melting at the mere thought.

“I concur,” he murmured, yawning, and Odin smiled fondly at him and tucked Loki’s small hand into his large one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: For all that this was from Loki’s perspective, this story was meant to give some insight into Thor and his strange “warrior/hunter/killer who loves everything at his own expense”-duality. 
> 
> I continue to pick and choose from mythology! We’ve seen Sleipnir and possibly Huginn and Muninn in the movies – now, with Geri and Freki here, Odin’s menagerie is complete. (Except the pig.)
> 
> That’s Sigurd Fafnirsbane, the dragonslayer, who finds them. Whether or not Odin caused his father’s death before he was born here as well I don’t know, but I’m sure he had a good reason if he did.


	3. The One-handed Warrior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Over-estimation of your own ability can be dangerous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thor and Loki are adolescents here.

Thor begins warrior training, and shows a clear aptitude for it. Unless he can immerse himself in the push and pull of the weather, he has too much energy to sit still for long, and his tutors have found it necessary to allow him to run off the excess energy after long sessions.

(They have also found that he remembers better if allowed to read in his favourite oak tree.)

But now fight training is part of his schedule, and Thor throws himself into it. He mimics the footwork of the full warriors to the extent that one rarely sees him walking normally anymore, parries and thrusts into the air while reading, and challenges Loki to cutlery fencing matches for the last piece of cake. He is strong and swift and a quick study, and his skill grows – though not as fast as his ego.

The hardened warriors, who were at first holding back, find themself taken unawares. Not daring to go full out against the elder son of the All-father, they find themselves on the defensive. 

When Loki points out that they are not fighting Thor full out, Thor accuses him of being jealous because Loki is still too young to begin training.

Odin watches, and considers, and sends Huginn with a message.

One morning, as Thor arrives at the training grounds for a morning workout against the practice poles, he finds the grounds occupied by a weather-beaten warrior with only one hand. He is moving slowly, as though burdened with old scars. Thor watches quietly for some time before announcing himself, expecting the warrior to clear out now that a prince has arrived.

Instead, he is challenged to a practice bout.

When Loki arrives later because Thor missed breakfast, he finds his brother bruised and bleeding and unable to stand on his own two feet. In contrast, the one-handed warrior is moving easily and has nary a mark on him.

Loki gathers what magic he has learned to let loose on the man who has dared harm a prince of Asgard, when Thor notices and shouts at him to stand down. The one-handed warrior raises a quizzical eyebrow, which turns into a slight smile of approval as Thor drags himself to his feet and nods, thanking for the bout.

Later that day, when his injuries have healed, Thor confronts his father. “You asked him to come here.”

“Yes,” Odin replies easily.

“Why?”

“Why do you think?”

Thor is quiet for some time, before looking his father straight in the eye. “Because better that he beats me down now, than someone hostile does it later.”

Odin smirks in satisfaction and inclines his head in assent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tyr, god of war, law and justice enters the stage. He gave up his hand to bind Fenrir, and Tuesday is named after him. 
> 
> I’m told that in the comics he’s yet another Odinsson. That’s not the case here. In some myths he’s the son of Odin, in others of the Jotun Hymir. Then again, Odin is half Jotun in the myths, and Thor is potentially three-quarters, so let’s not think too much about that.


	4. Jealousy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Thor and Loki have a falling out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They are still pretty young here, but older than in the last chapter. Early adolescents.

Her name was Sif, and one day she would be the greatest warrior Asgard had ever seen.

At least, that was her plan.

One wooden sword in her hand, the other strapped to her back, she ran towards the palace, sweeping and parrying and thrusting against invisible enemies along the way. 

She was of noble birth, and others called her Lady. She hated it, and her friends called her by name.

Finally, after having defeated a dozen imaginary miscreants along the way, she arrived outside the section of the palace that was the princes’ schoolroom. Outside it, she found her best friend and teacher of the sword. He was lying on the stone bench that had been placed against the wall, and had his arm over his eyes.

Sif paused and called his name. “Thor?”

“Sif,” he replied, not moving. He sounded miserable.

Sif winced. “How did your test go?” She knew he had been working hard for this – their last four sparring sessions had been accompanied by Thor reciting tenets of interdimensional politics at her. 

“I answered every question, I drew the correct lines – I think – and I spoke messily and sounded as though I knew nothing. It is in my head, but I cannot make it come out, and now Loki is in there making it all the clearer how much more clever he is than me, as always.”

Sif personally didn’t think that anyone who spent as much time antagonising others as Loki did could be called particularly clever, no matter how well-spoken he was, but she held her tongue. Thor was oddly unreceptive to the idea that his brother was not perfect.

“I’m sure it’s not as bad as that,” she said instead. “You say you answered every question?”

“And correctly, I think, but I sounded a right fool.” Thor sighed. “It’s so frustrating. Mother says that what one has to work for is often more worthwhile, but I never succeed no matter how hard I work. Just once, I’d like someone to tell me ‘well done’ without afterwards adding ‘but this could be better’. Father says that it’s not the talent that matters, but how one uses it, but what use is there for my talents? Being able to tell when it will rain is well and good for a weather witch, but not for a prince of Asgard.” He got off the bench and began to pace. 

Sif privately thought that there was much more to Thor’s talent than being able to tell when it would rain, but she didn’t bring it up – that his particular brand of magic had yet to blossom was a source of great frustration to Thor. Instead she said, “Well, I for one am grateful for one of your talents. You are the only one willing to teach me how to fight properly.”

“Yes, beating on girls is something I really wish to be known for,” Thor snapped.

“What of self-pity? You are displaying some truly astounding talents in that direction,” Sif snapped back. 

Thor whirled to look at her, shock etched into his features – before he began to laugh helplessly. Sif allowed him to put his arms around her and lean against her, reaching up to pat his head.

“Oh Sif, what would I do without you?” Thor murmured into her shoulder.

Sif smiled. “Perish of a bloated head, or become lost in your own misguided thoughts, I imagine,” she replied. She allowed him to hug her a little longer, before pushing him gently but firmly off. “Is that how you see our sparring sessions? As you ‘beating on a girl’?”

“Of course not,” Thor replied. “You are not a girl – you are Sif-who-happens-to-be-a-girl. But that is how others see them.”

“Let them,” Sif replied. “I shall prove them all wrong someday soon.” She loosened the sword she had strapped to her back, and handed it to Thor. “Shall we?”

“We shall,” Thor replied. With a pleased yell, the two adolescents attacked each other.

*****  
Loki was just settling into his speech when the tutor interrupted him. “Yes, Loki, true enough, but what does this have to do with the fostering of children?”

“Well, nothing,” Loki replied a little put out, “but I had finished with that topic. This is something I thought of while I was talking about that.”

“But I’ve not asked about this.”

“Can I only speak of that which you’ve asked me about?”

“In a test situation? Yes,” the tutor replied. Loki pouted.

“I think we are done,” the tutor continued. “As always, you show a great deal of knowledge, your deductive reasoning is sound, and you are very well-spoken. Also, as always, you need to nip your digressions in the bud. There is something to be said for staying on topic, you know.”

He stood and walked to the door, opening it. “Thor? We are finished. Would you like to come in, so I can give you your assessment?”

“You may as well say it in front of them,” Thor replied, getting up from where he’d wrestled Sif into the ground and dusting off himself. “I will only tell them in the end either way.”

The tutor raised an eyebrow. “Very well. It would appear that you were correct, and that you do think better when you can feel the spring breeze – I shall have to leave the window open for all your future testings. I found no flaws in your content this time.”

Thor stared at him. “Really?”

“Yes. Your eloquence still needs work, however.”

“There is always something,” Thor said, and Sif’s heart ached for him. Thor, however, was grinning, and he turned to beam at Loki – whose face was frozen in a look of fury.

Time seemed to come to a halt, as they stood frozen in place – Thor’s smile having turned to confusion, Loki’s anger to frustration at having been caught, Sif and the tutor both feeling as though they were intruders on a private scene – before Loki strode off, breaking the spell.

Thor bowed briefly to Sif and the tutor in apology before going after his younger brother. 

Loki sped up when Thor called to him to wait. Thor sped up in response, Loki began to run, and Thor began to run as well – until they were some ways away, Thor grew tired of the chase, sped up and tackled his younger brother to the ground.

“Loki, why are you so upset?” he asked in confusion.

Loki rolled away and to his feet, dusting off himself in short, angry movements. “Will you not let me have anything?” he spat.

Thor cocked his head. “Loki?”

“Intellectual pursuits are MY domain,” Loki said angrily. “How dare you do well at them?”

Thor rolled to his feet as well, keeping a few steps away. He wasn’t much taller than Loki – only an inch or so – but he had begun filling out, and was considerably broader across the shoulders.

“I worked hard for that test,” he replied carefully, “and I still only managed one aspect of it. You begrudge me that I do well after working for it?”

“You fight well,” Loki spat. “People are happy to see you. You foretell the weather more accurately than weather witches who have been plying their craft for centuries. And now you do well at school work as well?”

“I had to work three times as hard as you for what was probably only half as good as your assessment,” Thor replied. “Would you rather I had not put in the effort?”

“Yes! Will you cease?”

“No!” Thor shouted, angry now. “I’ll not limit myself for your convenience, Loki!”

Loki’s face twisted in disgust. “I hate you,” he snarled. “I would rather have any other brother than you.”

Thor took a step back, shock plain in his eyes. When he spoke, anger was only half of what was making his voice tremble. “Well. If I am so loathsome, perhaps you should cease crawling into my bed whenever you have another of your stupid nightmares.”

The shocked hurt on Loki’s face before he bolted was enough to send a lance of guilt spearing through Thor’s gut. “Loki, wait,” he called, but Loki only ran harder. They both knew the outcome, though – Thor was much faster, and soon enough he’d caught up and lifted Loki clean off his feet.

Loki struggled to free himself, but Thor only held him more firmly. “I’m sorry,” he whispered into Loki’s neck. “Of course you can come to me any time you wish it.”

“It’s unfair, using my nightmares against me,” Loki complained. “You are the only one who knows of them.”

“I still think you ought tell Mother and Father,” Thor said, setting Loki back on his feet.

Loki snorted. “Yes, I should surely tell them that I have persistent nightmares of being abandoned in the snow,” he said. “Please. I would rather not inspire them to send me away.”

“They would not,” Thor protested.

“They have already tried.”

Thor shook his head in frustration at an old argument. “They asked if you wished to go to Mother’s relatives on Vanaheim to study magic. It was an opportunity for you to develop your talents, nothing else – and they acquiesced the moment you indicated your displeasure with the idea.”

Loki shook his head. “This will lead us nowhere.”

Thor nodded in agreement. “You’re right. I’m sorry I upset you. I shan’t bring it up again.”

Loki nodded magnanimously. “You’re forgiven.” When Thor looked at him expectantly, he frowned. “Was there something else?”

Thor sighed. “I suppose not. Listen, it will rain in two hours. Should we ask the cat herders if they’ll let us take the riding cats’ kittens out for their exercise?” 

Loki liked kittens. “Yes. That is the best idea you have had today.”

The two of them ran off, argument mostly forgotten.


	5. Hammer-time!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor shows off a new skill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thor and Loki are what would be called «young adults» if they were humans in modern days.

Loki looked up in annoyance when the door slammed open and Thor, dusty but beaming, rushed in. 

“Loki, Loki, you have to come watch.”

Loki looked pointedly down at his book, before glaring up at Thor. “Why? I’m busy.”

“I learned something new. Please, brother, come watch.”

Loki glared again, this time at the hammer hanging heavily from his brother’s hand. Ever since Thor was given Mjolnir, he’d been learning to use it to channel his own innate power – to the point that the hammer, much more magical than most weapons, had taken on some of Thor’s power and now amplified it.

“I’ve no mood for being drenched today, Thor. Ask someone else.”

Thor laughed. “There’s no rain involved. Please, Loki. Do I ever complain when you wish for me to watch something you’ve learned?”

“Frequently. At length.”

Thor sank down to his haunches and looked beseechingly up at Loki. “Do I ever not do it?”

Loki sighed in defeat. “No”, he admitted. “And unless you’ve learned how to feign interest while letting your mind wander, you also pay attention.”

Thor stood up again. “Quite! So, will you come? I came to you first; I could not show anyone else first.”

Loki smiled a little at the pronouncement. He put the braided leather strap he used for a bookmark between the pages, and stood from his chair. “Fine. Make it worth my while, won’t you?”

Thor grinned and put a dusty arm around him. Loki grimaced a little as his previously clean clothing got dirt on it.

“Have no worries, little brother,” Thor said, oblivious to Loki’s annoyance. “It will be worth it.”

Loki remained skeptical as they made their way outside. He remained skeptical as Thor bid him to stand some distance away, and his skepticism only grew as Thor began to spin the hammer.

It disappeared as Thor flung the hammer skywards – and himself with it.

Loki stared in sheer befuddlement at the place where Thor had been seconds ago, before staring up at his brother in the sky. “Thor…you’re flying!” he exclaimed.

“Technically,” Thor corrected, pitching his voice to carry all the way down, “I’m not flying. I simply flung the hammer and held on to it, and now I am using the circular motion to keep me aloft.”

Loki kept staring at him. “How…?” he asked.

“The hammer is extremely heavy – heavier than me,” Thor shouted down. “Lifting it takes a…knack, so to speak. I’m simply using its momentum to lift me.” He began descending. About a foot above the ground, he let himself down – and stumbled. Loki caught him before he hit the ground.

Thor grinned. “I still have to work on the landings,” he admitted. 

“You are using sheer momentum to fly,” Loki said carefully, tasting the outlandish idea on his tongue even as he said it.

“I also have to calculate for wind, angles, distance and if I’m carrying anything,” Thor said, “but yes. I’m using momentum to fly.” He waved his hand negligently, dismissing the clouds that had begun gathering. “I must practice not calling rain while I’m doing it, though.”

Loki blinked at him. Took a step back and looked his brother over, blinked again. “Well,” he said. “That is…almost approaching clever.”

Thor grinned and made a mock bow. “Why, thank you kindly, Prince Loki. Your praise fills me with untellable joy.”

Loki had to smirk. “Oh, quiet, you,” he said, swatting at Thor. Thor simply grinned again.

“Would you care to be my first passenger?” he offered.

Loki blinked. “Fly with you?”

“Afraid I’ll drop you?”

“Of course not.” Loki bit his lip, considering. “Why?”

Thor…Thor actually shuffled his feet. “Well…I thought perhaps…” He sighed, then plowed ahead. “I wish to share it with someone.”

“And…again, you thought of me first.”

Thor blinked. “Well, yes.”

Loki looked up at the (now) cloudless sky. He looked out at the summer-green environment. He thought of the clear, cool stream in a secluded place on the road to Trudvang.

He smiled. 

“Let me down before you try your so-called landings, will you?” he asked.

Thor’s face split into his widest grin that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: A bit of comics canon! People – including the canon writers, sometimes – occasionally forget that Thor doesn’t actually fly as such.


	6. Independence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People grow up, sometimes.

The thing about the Asgard-Vanaheim war was that neither side actually wanted it. The two realms had been close for millennia, and had fairly good relations. They traded art, knowledge, and luxuries. There were many from either realm living in the other, through work or marriage – including Asgard’s queen.

But at some point, resentments over unfair deals on both sides grew too big. Differences were emphasized and similarities ignored. After centuries of grumbling and sniping and having to stretch further and further not to turn to arms, the war came despite the fact that no-one really wanted it. Like the oppressive atmosphere before a storm, the feelings of two immortal races kept building and pressing everyone down, until, like a storm, it broke free.

And for one young Ás warrior who brought storms, it was enough that he swore never to use rain offensively again.

************************* _40 years later_ *****************************

Night in Asgard was never entirely dark, but in this part of the library there were no windows. An artificial light was the only illumination as Loki thumbed his way through volumes he wasn’t supposed to read. He’d had a recurring nightmare, and decided that since he was reluctant to go back to sleep, he’d spend the time productively. 

A caw broke his concentration, and he looked up in annoyance. “Be gone, pesky raven,” he whispered - but he froze when he recognised the bird.

The raven spread huge wings to fly the short distance over the shoulder of the Allfather.

Loki grinned nervously. “Hello, Father.”

Odin scowled. “Loki. You are not supposed to be here.”

“Well, why not?” Loki protested. “I am clever enough to understand what is in these books – and it isn’t as though I’m not old enough. You have allowed others here when they were younger.”

Odin sighed. “I have told you this. I cannot help but doubt that you’re ready.”

“Well, what do I have to do to BE ready?” Loki asked harshly. He was on his feet now, glaring at his father. “What are your criteria? It is hardly fair not to tell me.”

“Loki. I don’t doubt your intelligence. It is simply that you rarely look at the consequences of what you do, and tend to panic when something happens unlike what you expected…Loki! Do not walk away from me!”

“It’s past my bedtime!” Loki snapped. “If you persist in treating me as a child, then I shall act like one!”

He ignored Odin’s angry voice commanding him to return. He stalked through the corridors back to his chambers, upset enough not to notice someone falling into step with him until a deep, warm voice asked: “Well, what has you in a huff?”

Loki paused for a second before continuing, ignoring Thor, who looked at him with bemusement.

“Loki! Are you so upset that you cannot welcome me back?”

“Oh, you were gone? I hadn’t noticed,” Loki replied.

Thor’s mouth drooped in hurt confusion. “Lokiiiiiiiiiii,” he whined.

“You have some nerve, coming here after _four decades_ with barely any letters and expecting to be welcomed back with open arms,” Loki snarled.

“Mother and Father were happy to see me,” Thor replied in a rather sulking tone. “And our new baby brother. I’m glad they reconciled enough to create him.” They walked in silence for a few moments before Thor ventured, “so which is it? Are you upset that I have been gone for a long time, or have you not noticed?”

“Why did you stay behind so long in Vanaheim anyway?” Loki whined. “What reason could you possibly have, right after we went to war against them?”

Thor sighed. “I told you at the time. I caused too much damage – two floods and a drought. I had to stay behind and clean up their weather patterns.”

“And this took you forty years?” 

“No, only six months,” Thor admitted. “Alas, enough damage was done that I felt I ought stay behind and help set their farms to rights – and then I travelled for some time.” They had arrived at Loki’s chambers now, and both entered without even thinking that Loki could deny Thor entry.

“I did send some letters,” Thor ventured after the silence had grown uncomfortable.

Loki snorted. “Yes, a grand total of nine of them. For forty years.” He demonstratively turned his back to Thor and began rearranging the rocks adorning one of the shelves running from one end of the room to the other.

Thor sighed. “I suppose this means you have no desire to receive your present?”

Loki turned to him, suddenly eager. “Present?”

Grinning at his sudden enthusiasm, Thor reached into a pocket and pulled out…

…a stone figurine. The craftsmanship was exquisite, and the delicate figure looked almost alive, but it was not something Loki normally had any interest in. “Oh,” he said, making no effort to hide his disappointment.

As Loki was contemplating the figurine, trying to figure out what he should do with it, Thor cleared his throat and pulled two books out from under his cape. Loki grabbed them both eagerly.

“If you have lost interest in the subject, you can go try to have them exchanged – but I had to toil for the Lady Freya for a year for each of those, so these you had better appreciate,” Thor said, but he was smiling. Loki grinned up at him.

“Welcome back, brother,” he said.

As they sat there, getting back into the comfortable rhythm of being around each other, the topic of Loki’s upsetting conversation with Odin came up.

“It is as though he doesn’t trust me not to rip the world to pieces around me,” Loki complained.

Thor pondered that for a moment, finishing off the last of the dark cherries that Loki had found for them. “Well, he’s our father. What do you expect?” Loki looked at him quizzically, and Thor smiled at him. “After all, if you were to rip apart the world around you, you would be right there in the middle.”

“Do you never feel as though he’s smothering us?” Loki asked, fiddling with the blanket on his bed.

Thor sighed. “It was not only guilt that kept me away from home for forty years,” he replied. “I also needed some space. Being my own master was really rather satisfying.” He grinned and reached out to ruffle Loki’s hair. “And yet, I found that I missed my darling little brother too much to stay away any longer. 

Loki grinned at him. “So, you came home because you missed me? I’m flattered.”

Thor grinned back. “That, and I found that I am ready to begin building. You remember the plot I bought in Trudvang? I learned some new construction techniques, and…”

“You’re moving out?” Loki objected. “But Fensal has more than enough space!”

“That is not the point,” Thor replied patiently. “I simply wish for a place of my own.”

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Loki snapped, jumping to his feet and turning his back on him. “Go, then!”

Thor looked at him for a long moment, before sighing. “I suppose this means you will have no input on the design of your rooms?”

Loki spun around. “My rooms?”

“In case you wish to come visit,” Thor replied, and only someone who knew him well could detect the nervousness in his voice. 

Loki smiled for himself. “May I have a sleeping room, an entertaining room, and a study?”

“A three-room suite?”

“Yes.”

Thor laughed in relief. “Brother, you may have three entire floors if you so desire.”

Loki returned the laugh. “Oh no, I would not be so greedy. Two floors are enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Balder has been born. What will come of that, I wonder? (Nothing for some time.)
> 
> This is the final prequel story in this ficverse for the moment. Next, I'll start posting the longfic that is the main reason I wrote this in the first place.
> 
> At least, I hope so. I’m two-thirds finished with it, but it’s rather resisting being written.

**Author's Note:**

> If Marvel and the rest of the fandom can pick and choose mythology, then so can I!
> 
> I've taken some liberties with Ginnugagap and the creation myth, as seen in "Váluspá".
> 
> Fensal is Frigga's hall in Asgard.
> 
> Odin uses illusions to tell a story in "Grímnísmál" (or, rather, that story as told in Peter Madsen's "Valhalla". I take my inspiration where I find it!).
> 
> Odin using magic - that's all over the Eddas.
> 
> Bifrost was built by Odin and Loki, the mythological one who was Odin's blood brother rather than his adoptive son. To avoid timeline fudging, I've decided that our Loki is simply named for him.
> 
> ...right, I'll stop now.


End file.
